In his first political speech, actor Vijay criticised the politics of the Dravida model and the DMK for their “divisive politics”.
Actor Vijay drew first blood in Tamil Nadu’s Vikravandi on Sunday as he made his maiden public speech in front of his legions of fans and followers.
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The Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) chief delivered a highly charged, well-drafted political speech where he clearly outlined who are his two political enemies – the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and other political entities who he claims are bent on leveraging religious and caste fissures in the society.
But since Vijay avoided naming any politician or political party, there was a huge guessing game on social media on who he might have attacked after his speech ended.
In his speech, he took aim at ‘corrupt’ politicians and those indulging in divisive politics.
“Advancing anti-people politics as Dravida Model and cheating the people with that is a self-interested dynasty politics grouping,” Vijay roared, cheered on by a crowd made of his legions of fans and political affiliates.
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Vijay’s attack was nuanced as he appeared to target the DMK on its key go-to-polls strategy which has been to warn voters of the ills of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The DMK, not named directly by the actor, which has called the BJP ‘fascist’ in the past, was criticised for using the term.
“What fascism? And what you do is payasam?” he said, referring to the popular sweet dish.
In his speech, Vijay also made an electorally significant announcement by announcing that he remains open to alliances. “Will we not join forces with those like us – who want to travel with us?,” Vijay said, adding he remains open to sharing power with alliance partners.
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He, however, also said that his party ‘will win with a single majority’, which was met with raucous cheers of fans who were chanting ‘Thalapathy’ – a term that translates to “commander”.
Paradoxically, Vijay’s political ideologies largely mirror that of the DMK – as he says his party espouses secularism, social justice, women’s rights and more. He also adopts Periyar without the denial of God principles while steering clear of showing any inclination to criticise religious tenets and beliefs.
Noteworthy among his political principles are proportional representation, women’s rights, protection for women and children, education, health and drinking water as a fundamental right and others.
Vijay in Vikravandi signalled that battlelines are drawn and Tamil Nadu’s political fray has never looked so fragmented.
The DMK and its multi-party alliance featuring the communists and Thol. Thirumavalavan’s VCK stands on one side. In the other corner is Edappadi Palaniswami’s ADMK, which is like a powerful giant though currently slumbering.
The BJP in another corner looks a little dim with its firebrand leader K Annamalai not in action (but he returns this week). Several smaller outfits are watching the developments – they are the primary targets for the larger parties to rope in if the public sentiment seems unclear (when in doubt, votebank arithmetic never fails).
Some parties may believe it is too early to be talking about alliances, but with Vijay’s starry emergence, some parleys may already be underway.
